Fishing with pontoon boat and Big Bend spots?

[tallykenj]

I'm new to fishing. I got a 24' pontoon boat about a year ago for the family and fishing. I've been out almost every weekend since last September. My wife, daughters and I are having a wonderful time. It been a great investment. I know I can't go too far out but how far can I go? I frequently take the kids to the sandbar by the bird rack at St. Marks. Especially for you veteran fisherman and woman, how far out have you seen pontoon boats safely fishing? I know weather and water conditions are big factors everywhere but what do you recommend? Thanks in advance for your guidenance.

Also, I like to explore some other areas, like Panacea and Dog Island. What will I find there?

I'll take any tips I can get.

Ken

[Jumptrout51]

What size motor and what speed can you safely run?

[tallykenj]

90 HP, 23 MPH

[Jumptrout51]

From personal experience I recommend not more than 8 miles out on nice days.
It can blow up quickly. At 23 mph you can get to safe water quickly enough.
If you are caught in rough water go slow and keep the bow up.
The boat will not sink.
Panacea,Dog Island and St.George Island are great places for your boat.
Emphasis #1. Watch the weather.

[tallykenj]

8 miles from the lighthouse? That's seems like far enough to give me some diverse fishing conditions. I thought I'd be stuck on the flats. Not that something is wrong with that. I've been having a great time staying near shore. I'll break out the charts and see how far 8 miles is. I've got a radio but must admit I'm very cautious. I guess that's better than otherwise.

[What a mess]

Never even rode in one I have seen them a good way from the ramp don't let people sit in front of you thats how the guy got killed @ Steinhatchee last year I have seen people offshore in a john boat don't make it smart.

[Barhopr]

Learn to read weather patterns and let the wind be your friend. Low pressure fronts have counter clockwise rotation and high pressure fronts clockwise. If you know where the fronts are and about how fast they're moving, and whether they are going to pass you from the North or South you can predict the wind pretty well.

[robbankston]

From personal experience I recommend not more than 8 miles out on nice days.
It can blow up quickly. At 23 mph you can get to safe water quickly enough.
If you are caught in rough water go slow and keep the bow up.
The boat will not sink.
Panacea,Dog Island and St.George Island are great places for your boat.
Emphasis #1. Watch the weather.

Hey Jumptrout what's the best way to keep the nose up on a pontoon boat? This topic interest me too since I'm a new member of the pontoon club.....

[wevans]

I'm not JT "THANK YA LORD" but, tilt motor up some and move people towards the back I have seen them out at the rotory reef on several occasions "course I'm in a 17.5 aluminum bass boat" wind and seas are very important and remember that during the summer months that a storm can come out of nowhere and travel much faster than your boat!! I have had a storm come up "a few years ago" when we was less than a mile from shore "in a 24 foot pontoon" and more than once had water knee deep while I was trying to get to shore "the waves just washed right over us" it will not sink, but it will sure scare the hell outta ya I personally would not take a child out more than a mile during the summer unless I was in an offshore boat

[Jumptrout51]

Wevans is right.
Weight to the back.
You will have to ride the waves...NOT PLOW THROUGH THEM.
If you try to plow you will take on water.

[wevans]

Course if yer going into the waves, yer gonna take about every other one over the bow "pontoons plow more than the ride over"

[wevans]

As for areas, Panacea, Mashes Sands and Lanrk Village are great areas for a pontoon "no ROCKS" from Lanark you can shoot over to Dog Island but be aware of the weather, it can get extreamly rough between Lanark and the Island

PS: MashesSands has a lot of Oyster bars on the South side of the bay and Panacea has a lot of em behind Piney Island

[Just Fish]

My father in law and I ran a 24 foot pontoon out of St. Marks for many years. We frequently went as far as rotary reef from the lighthouse. Its a good 12 miles from the lighthouse to rotary. The pontoon I ran had the large diameter pontoons on it. From personal experience we never had any problems going out that far other than making sure we had enough gas to get back. A 90 on a pontoon boat sucks up a bunch of gas. However take warning as the storms can come up quickly and you have a good 30-45min ride back in with 2-3 ft seas. I had that boat in 7-9 ft seas once and it was not fun, the waves were crashing over the sides of the pontoon boat, it was a very scary experience but I do have to say there was little chance of sinking that boat. Worse case is it may have flipped over sideways but if you keep a 24 ft pontoon into the waves properly, its unsinkable (knock on wood). I did wonder though if the boat was going to stay in one piece. It is extremely difficult to drive a pontoon boat in seas over 3-5ft. as most of the time your motor will be out of the water, especially if you have to cruise directly into the waves to return to shore. Also some pontoon transoms are not as tough as most boats. I know we had to have our transom reinforced twice with 2 inch angle and finally a 8ft long 2in square aluminum bar welded across the entire back of the transom and welded to the motor mounts to keep it from cracking the welds in the rougher water.

If you take your wife and kids out and get stuck in 5ft+ seas I can pretty much guarantee they will never go again and I can bet you might not be allowed either. And your wife will make sure you get more life insurance as soon as she sees the first waterspout and massive lightning that comes with the storms even if the waves aren't that bad.

[red_yakker]

I was 20 miles offshore with a buddy last weekend. Out on the horizon, headed our way was an odd looking boat. As it got closer, we realized it was a either a deck boat or a pontoon, never got close enough to tell for sure. He was farther offshore than we were, headed back in. I think people like that are the reason the FWC can be such jerks sometimes about checking safety gear. They must see a lot of idiots out there.

Biggest word of advice with a pontoon is "know your limits and don't push them". When used properly, they can be a lot of fun.